During all the contract craziness this summer, I have begun to wonder about several issues? Let's hypothesize that Charlie Ward has a disabling injury or just plain "burns out" during his guaranteed contract time frame. Could Ward and the Rockets agree to tear up his contract and make him a coach for the same (or perhaps greater) salary for the same time period his contract would have run? Would Ward's prior "player" contract still count against the cap? Coaches do not count against the cap, and apparently there is no limit on them (see Cuban's Mavericks). The second issue is incentives? Again, let's set up a hypothetical situation. The Rockets sign a player -- let's say Alonzo Mourning -- for $1 million per year but add incentives like $750K for averaging 8 rebounds per game and $1M for averaging 10 points per game, etc. Do those incentives count against the cap if not paid? Do they count against the cap if they are paid? In other words, can the cap be manipulated with incentives so that a player earns his salary for "production" rather than "potential?"
Come now, at least one of the NAG triumverate (NIKEstrad, Aelliott or GATER) or a lesser capologist must have an answer.
I am not an expert, but I'll try. 1. A player's contract is under the CBA, and it has nothing to do with the coaches' contracts. All the players' contracts are guarenteed in the league, which means we are locked up with Ward for the next three years, doesn't matter Ward turns into a coach, a trainer, a GM or a ballboy for us. However, if he decides to retire due to health reason(like in Mourning's case), his salary will not be counting against the cap after two seasons of his retirement. In Ward's case, this is irrelavant even he will be injured, since his contract is not long enough for any of these discussions. 2. I haven't heard the NBA players' salaries have incentives, I don't think they do. Even if they do, it has to count against the cap. Otherwise, we can just sign T-Mac for the vet min., and put an incentive that if he averages 10 or more points a game, he'll make $14 millions, and it won't count against the cap if he doesn't. It doesn't make any sense(or maybe it does, but it's not allowed under the CBA, which itself isn't making too much sense in many cases).
I believe, if the NBA determines the incentive is likely to be reached then it is counted against the cap.
Well, if both sides agree, then you can do a contract buy-out to reduce or eliminate the money owed the player. At that point, there's no contract between the player and the team, so I'd think you'd be free to sign him as a coach to whatever we wanted to. If Ward ever decided he wanted to play again, then he'd have to void his coaches contract before he could sign another player contract since player-coaches are not allowed in the NBA. Here's links to Coon's explanations of contract buy outs: http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#57 http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#58 Incentives: There's a restriction on how much you can offer in incentives (25%) and the league classifies them as likely to be achieve or not likely to be achieved. Likely to be achieved incentives count against the cap. Here's a link for Coon's explanation: http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#59
Thanks, one and all. Aelliott, I bookmarked the Coon sites. I have already found some answers to questions I always had but was afraid to ask. Very helpful.
Coon's site is very good, but it is an interpretation of the CBA. If you want the real deal go here: http://www.nbpa.com/downloads/CBA.pdf That's the actual NBA CBA. Everything is there, but it's a much tougher read than Coon's document.
to expand on aelliott's comments wrt incentives, likely bonuses and signing bonuses are treated as pure salary wrt to the cap or any exception you are trying to sign them to. The team's only benefit is the owner might not have to pay the likely incentive money, but all the cap rules show it as salary. Unlikely bonuses don't count against the cap until earned, but they must still work within the rules of maximum pay and minimum pay. In other words, you can't sign a contract with a base pay below the minimum salary scale for the player...ever. In fact, unlikely bonuses are not allowed when using the Minimum Player Salary Exception, and you also can never go below 80% of the Rookie Scale's real cash salary. Likewise, your base salary plus incentives, whether likely or unlikely, can never take someone over their possible max for the exception you are trying to use, such as the $1m Exception, 120% of the Rookie Scale, MLE or Full Bird. Performace bonuses (incentive compensation) are kinda worthless in the NBA compared to the NBA. You can't even front load in the NBA...bonuses are pretty much spread evenly over the course of the contract.
